I have a JL 13W7 in a ported box run by a 750/1, in my 07 X Star...it is truly amazing to me and will draw a crowd on a sandbar with people amazed at the clarity and response of the entire system together. I'm thinking of going with 2 of them in my next boat unless I can come up with a better option. I've not really come across a boat that sounds better from a bass output or response standpoint...but I love this stuff so I'd like to hear something bigger and badder!

I have a JL 13W7 in a ported box run by a 750/1, in my 07 X Star...it is truly amazing to me and will draw a crowd on a sandbar with people amazed at the clarity and response of the entire system together. I'm thinking of going with 2 of them in my next boat unless I can come up with a better option. I've not really come across a boat that sounds better from a bass output or response standpoint...but I love this stuff so I'd like to hear something bigger and badder!

While the JL Audio HD750/1 is a beast, in an open field environment, I would say that is light power for a 13W7. You haven't heard the 13W7 reach its full dynamic ability yet....not speaking of volume, but rather maximum dynamic/transient/attack/tight. A JL Audio Slash 1200/1 per sub is ideal while the HD1200/1 is next in line. That is a very massive sub to drive & control, and in an open boat power seems to flash evaporate very differently from the contained cabin of a car, truck or SUV. So typically you have to be at the top of or just above the woofer thermal rating, especially in consideration of JL Audio rating their subs power a bit on the conservative side.

I have a JL 13W7 in a ported box run by a 750/1, in my 07 X Star...it is truly amazing to me and will draw a crowd on a sandbar with people amazed at the clarity and response of the entire system together. I'm thinking of going with 2 of them in my next boat unless I can come up with a better option. I've not really come across a boat that sounds better from a bass output or response standpoint...but I love this stuff so I'd like to hear something bigger and badder!

While the JL Audio HD750/1 is a beast, in an open field environment, I would say that is light power for a 13W7. You haven't heard the 13W7 reach its full dynamic ability yet....not speaking of volume, but rather maximum dynamic/transient/attack/tight. A JL Audio Slash 1200/1 per sub is ideal while the HD1200/1 is next in line. That is a very massive sub to drive & control, and in an open boat power seems to flash evaporate very differently from the contained cabin of a car, truck or SUV. So typically you have to be at the top of or just above the woofer thermal rating, especially in consideration of JL Audio rating their subs power a bit on the conservative side.

O.k. so I'm with you...I argued that I should have gone with the 1200/1, but they assured me the 750 was the way to go, honestly it hits really hard & I've never heard it the other way so I've always wondered what if...

So in a new '14 X Star how crazy would it be for me to put (2) 13W7's each with their own 1200/1? Also I'm wanting to power the 7.7 tower speakers with a HD600/4 for extra power, is there a better alternative? One final question...the boat comes with (2) 600/6 amps, one runs in boat and the other currently runs the towers. I'd like to use both 600/6's to run just the in boat speakers (bridged). Is this a bad idea & will it give me a good result?

O.k. so I'm with you...I argued that I should have gone with the 1200/1, but they assured me the 750 was the way to go, honestly it hits really hard & I've never heard it the other way so I've always wondered what if...

So in a new '14 X Star how crazy would it be for me to put (2) 13W7's each with their own 1200/1? Also I'm wanting to power the 7.7 tower speakers with a HD600/4 for extra power, is there a better alternative? One final question...the boat comes with (2) 600/6 amps, one runs in boat and the other currently runs the towers. I'd like to use both 600/6's to run just the in boat speakers (bridged). Is this a bad idea & will it give me a good result?

Sure, two 13W7s with an HD1200 per each woofer is the right combination. You just have to understand that when they designed a W7 to go a little deeper with a longer excursion that in itself makes the speaker internal efficiency just a bit lower, than say a W6 for example. This slight trade-off is unavoidable. The benefits of the W7 are absolutely concrete but only IF you give them all the power they deserve. And then a 13.5-inch is a ton of moving mass to accelerate and control.
For the in-boat speakers....let's say you have three pair 7.7s in the coaming. Bridging the two six channel amplifiers into six total channels will give you 200 watts per each M7.7" speaker. It doesn't get any better. Because the HD600/4 is strictly regulated, its four channels deliver about the same output as eight channels of the XD series bridged bridged into four. Plus, the HD600/4 has two power supplies just like dual discrete two channel amplifiers built into a single chassis. So its a beast. Either way will be awesome leaving no potential unrealized. It's enough midbass attack to make you flinch on a rimshot. Also, with so much subwoofer, you would need a ton of competing midbass from your 7.7" satellites. The bass sound quality is only as good as the balance between the fundamentals and harmonics. The bass tonal construction really comes from the 7.7s. If the subs over-drive the sats, then the bass begins to sound very indiscriminate.

I have read in other posts where having (2) unique ported subs in different locations on the boat would cancel each other out or be inefficient? Realistically 1 13W7 is more than enough, but hey if two would be literally twice as good...I'm in! I just don't want to do something technically stupid and it would not make a noticeable difference.

Last question...would a 750/1 be a better choice for the tower speakers than the 600/4? If I update my sub to the 1200/1 I'll have the 750/1 available to use somewhere.

I have read in other posts where having (2) unique ported subs in different locations on the boat would cancel each other out or be inefficient? Realistically 1 13W7 is more than enough, but hey if two would be literally twice as good...I'm in! I just don't want to do something technically stupid and it would not make a noticeable difference.

Last question...would a 750/1 be a better choice for the tower speakers than the 600/4? If I update my sub to the 1200/1 I'll have the 750/1 available to use somewhere.

thanks!!!

Yes, the HD750/1 makes better sense for the tower because it is simply 25% more power.

Two subs in different locations in an open boat definitely has negative issues. Contrastly, in a contained home theater room, you can in some cases purposely use two or multiple subs in different locations to cancel room problems and cancel listener location bias. But you are also interfacing with boundaries, like walls. In a boat, two sub locations can give you somewhat more output but will never give you near the same output as two identical subs in the same location, oriented the same, and loading into symmetrical boundaries. Due to phasing problems, you get hot and cold spots in the boat and you get a smeared tonal construction. No second sub in a secondary location will perform as well as the primary sub in the most optimum location. So if you can't collect the two or set up an identical left and right at midship, then the second sub and additional amplifier may not be worth the extra investment.
Another approach worth mentioning is if the designer/installer can load the sub and port into the open cockpit so that it is completely direct radiating and totally sealed off from the helm or bench seating console that contains the enclosure, both the bass output and the bass sound quality will be MUCH improved. Some boats cooperate more than others.

Thanks David! My gut tells me to just go with the 1 sub and update to the 1200/1 amp...it should make the 13W7 come alive even more than with the current 750/1. I'm just afraid of not going big enough the first time. I appreciate your knowledge and insight! Any other advice you could bestow upon me to make this boat sound as amazing as possible?